I agree, the issues are quite complex. I cited a fed paper in my reply below -- thanks for taking the discussion up a notch.
Something I'd like to understand better is why capital (and not labor) is capturing a higher share of firms' overall income than in past years. As I noted in my reply, the decline of savings means this is a double-whammy for people, as they get hit on the front end with lower upfront cash payments, and on the back as well, when they don't share in any upside of corporate profits, due to no share ownership.
I can't footnote this ( although look a lot to both Tyler Cowen and Arnold Kling ) , but labor is relatively less mobile than capital. Capital has become more mobile.
Actual capital - machinery - has taken it as hard as has labor. This leads many to think that the increases may be closer to rents than profits. It's also harder to say what the effect of online is; for people under ... what, 25-30?, "likes" on the Internet act as a form of currency that may verge on real currency at the edges.
Something I'd like to understand better is why capital (and not labor) is capturing a higher share of firms' overall income than in past years. As I noted in my reply, the decline of savings means this is a double-whammy for people, as they get hit on the front end with lower upfront cash payments, and on the back as well, when they don't share in any upside of corporate profits, due to no share ownership.